Ephesians 6:10-13
Spiritual Warfare Part 1
The book of Ephesians
Divides into 3 sections Ch. 1-3 THE WEALTH of the Believer : Who we are in Christ
/ Blessings
B) Ch. 4-6v9 – THE WALK
OF THE BELIEVER: How to walk in light of who we are in Christ –
1)But then when we hit v.10 of Ch. 6 Paul wraps up
talking about SW /Why
C) Answer:
Because there is an Enemy who wants
you to forget how WEALTHY you are
in Christ!
1.) Who wants you to forget how much God loves
you and all He has done for you! /
Who you are in Christ!
D) An enemy who doesn't want you to walk w/
the Lord; walk in victory - but defeat and condemnation
1.) An Enemy who doesn't want your life to make
a difference!
It has been said that the Christian life is
not a playground but a BATTLE GROUND
!!!! (true statement)
A) The sooner
we realize that the better off we will be!
B) The Bible
supports that statement in using terms like Solider
/ Army / Battle / Fight / Victory / Defeat – in Describing Christian
life
1) We are NOT JUST Children of God but SOLDIERS in
the Lord's army!
A)Peter in his epistle 1Peter 5 :8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil
walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
B) Listen : If we could see
behind the scenes into spiritual realm - be amazed - angels and demons
1) Daniel's
prayer: Dan 10 - "Moment prayed – An Angel was dispatched w/ an answer but was held
up for 21 days - 3 weeks!"……………….
C) [In-depth study –
Tape Library package – 8 weeks] – Condensed into 3 studies – high points
1) 3 things to
consider tonight in v. 10-13 – 1st Consider Our Enemy & HIS
STRATEGY
D) 2nd
Consider our Source of Power that is
constantly available to us
1)
Finally: Our
Call to STAND!!!! Rd v.10-13
So first we want to consider our Enemy: Who are we fighting
against?
A) Read v.12
again For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
B) This is an important thing to Note that our
Battle is not w/ people – or institutions / but rather w/ the forces behind
those People & institutions
1) We
wrestle not against flesh & blood ……… Fighting principalities and powers { DEMONIC FORCES
C) So Our Battle is w/
Satan & Cohorts – Fallen Angel – 1/3 angels w/ Him
Consider some of
our enemies titles: Twice he is called Satan = adversary:
/ 35 times he is called the
Devil = Accuser!
A)He is the
accuser of the brethren!
B) He is also
called - Father of Lies - liar. Throw
thoughts in mind –
V.16
fiery darts ….LIKE : God doesn't care about you - if did - wouldn't be going through this!
/ He Uses the
Word and twist it to deceive – stumble
C) Jesus referred to him Jn 10 as the thief and a
robber who comes to kill rob and destroy
1) In the life of the UNBELIEVER
he wants to steal your Soul / HELL
D)He wants to rip off
your day – He is hoping you come to a point where you say I just can’t take it
anymore – I’m ready to throw in the towel
1) This year 600,000 teens listen to that lie –
attempt suicide
Now In the Life of the BELIEVER his Chief purpose is
to get us to act INDEPENDENTLY OF GOD
A) He wants to get you to do your own thing / to lean
on your own understanding & to RELY UPON- your
own strength
B)
Very Subtle he wants
to Deceive you into thinking that you really don’t need God - You are doing
just fine on your own !!!
C) Once he gets you acting in that way – no longer
praying / no longer realizing that you are Dependent on the Lord for everything
1)
Then he sucks you into
that mentality of just LIVING TO PLEASE YOUR SELF
D) He can ROB you of
your Joy & effectiveness / he can DESTROY your Peace & sense of Satisfaction –
1) (Start
Looking to Carnal things AGAIN to Satisfy you )
E) He can KILL your testimony & witness – cause you to
be an instrument of hurt to the world around you ( Another
one of those “CHRISTIANS”)
1) Satan loves to hear that !!!!
So that is who we are fighting !!!!!
Now
When it comes to the subject of spiritual warfare : two problems - exist! One is ignorance/ the other is PREOCCUPATION
A.) Some Christians just ignore or are
oblivious to the fact that we have
an Adversary and are in a battle! ( WARN - New believers)
B) Some ACT LIKE THE DEVIL DOESN’T EXIST
1)
They
remind me of the Trainer of a Certain Boxer who was trying to encourage his guy
during a fight in which he was getting beat up
After several rounds of taking a beating the guy comes back to his corner & says
to his trainer Please throw in the towel – this guys is
killing me
His trainer responds : No he is not / he
is not even hitting you he hasn’t
laid a glove on you
Boxer replied Well
then I wish you would watch that Referee because someone is sure hitting me .
C) That
is the mindset of a lot of people have when it comes to Satan – Everyone else
is hitting them & attacking them/ accept their true enemy
1)
They
just want to ignore the Fact of Satan’s Existence - / Ignorant
to his plans & strategies & so they always are struggling & don’t
know why
D) I have had times in
my walk where I have literally forgot that – there was spiritual warfare –
1) Denise on edge with
each other – for no reason: Listen the
enemy wants to destroy your family
Ever Notice how you can have Problems getting to church or
getting out of Bed on a Sunday as opposed to Sat. – Sat Surf – no Problem
A)But Sunday
morning – Church –Flesh – Sleep in - bible study - getting into the Word – can be such a Struggle {
Distractions / phone rings
B) But
when you sit to read paper, watch TV. no interruptions - bible -
whole other story!
C) Nothing on mind until pick up the Word - suddenly
million things on
your
mind - (that is how enemy works) { Fiery
darts
1.) Don't be ignorant of the battle!
One
Problem is Ignorance / but an Equal problem is - Preoccupation:
A.) People
blaming everything on the ENEMY -
Like the woman who went to the Mall – tight budget
Husband – go & Look but don’t buy anything – She
came home w/ a New Dress –
Husband said I thought I told you not to buy
anything – She responded the Devil made me do it – He
said what mean – well I tried it on Looking in the mirror he told me how
good it looked on me – he said you have got to buy that dress –
Her husband said well you should of said like Jesus
did get behind me Satan She responded I did/ but
the Devil told me it looked good from that View too.
B) It is true that some people want to blame all their
problems on the Devil and they see Demons around every corner
1) LISTEN: THE ENEMY loves it when we take our eyes off of Jesus and get focused on
him! - The key
lies in a healthy balance
Now
notice the word WILES IN V.11 = Methodia in the Grk – from which we get our
English word Methods { Means Strategy
A)It speaks of a
carefully arranged systematic program of action for attaining an object / goal
or desired End –
B) Satan has a
Systematic plan of attack against us & we need to understand what that is -
C)
When Joe Lewis was the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
He
fought, 71 times professionally;
he lost only once.
1) During the decade and a half he held his title,
he defended it 25 times.
D) Lewis was asked in an interview what was the secret of
his Success & how he could win over people who were at times much larger
than him
1)
his response was interesting :
"I study my
opponent, I plan my fight very carefully.
The results are always the same.
1) I'm never surprised and 2) I stay on the offensive".
E) Good advice for us – We need to know the ways
that Satan attacks – and we need to stay on the offensive .
1) Now when it comes to Satan’s strategy – His
methods haven’t Changed much since the beginning - 1 John 2:15-17 Insight into
his strategy
Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16
For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world.17 And the world
is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides
forever.
Now
this is the Essence of Satan’s Strategy – He will use this world & the things of this world to
ENITCE our flesh for the Purpose of getting us to PLEASE OURSELVES & NOT
PLEASE GOD !!!!
A)This Pattern is seen over & over again in the pages of the Scriptures
Lets look at the very first time it occurred Turn to Gen. 3
V.1 1Now the serpent
was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And
he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of
the garden’?”
B) Notice here that the first thing that Satan does
– is fires a dart into Eve’s mind seeking to get her to DOUBT GOD’S WORD - Has God indeed said
1) Consider how He appealed to Eve’s Flesh Rd v.2-5 – focus v.6
C) Note how - He appealed to her physical senses V. 6, So
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
D)
Appealed to her physical senses - 3 common areas / Lust flesh/ Eyes / Pride …………………
1st
He appealed to the lust of flesh. Woman saw it was desirable for food! "Look
at that food!"
A)Lust
of the flesh includes everything that appeals the gratification of our natural
Physical desires
B) Can you hear Eve Rationalizing / Well I am Hungry & I am kind of too tired to walk over
to that other tree – why not eat this
The 2nd device that the Satan
uses to trap us is the lust of the eyes!
"It
was pleasant to the eyes"
A.)Involves
what we take in w/ our mind! As well as
what we see w/ our
eyes! TV. Mags /
Internet / conversations
B)
Satan comes & says Look at that look
what missing - look what he has /
C) Illustrate how this works / a while back Denise made a tray of brownies / I came home 1st
place I go is kitchen / saw this tray of
brownies ate one
1) She comes in & says don’t
eat any more of those they are not for us they were some function
D) But every time I walked thru the kitchen calling out
my name Rob / Now I know I didn’t need
those Brownies / shouldn’t eat those brownies
1)
But they looked so good – so desirable - so I took another & another / moving around on tray / out of control
E)
Now Eating brownies is not wrong but it
illustrates how lust of eyes works
pulls you in calls out your name / need get out of sight /
1)
Works the same way –Porn / Another woman or man -
INTERESTING I was fine once
Denise left !!!!
3rd
Pride of life
/ desirable "It would make her
wise"/ Like God !
A)the
Greek word for “pride” was used to describe a braggart who was trying to
impress people with his importance.
B) Thinking that tempts us to want to be
somebody/ promotes ourselves
1)
He Knows God’s word says – God resist the proud – but gives grace to the Humble
{ Love to see you all bound up in Pride !!!
C) This has been his mode of operation for 1,000’s
of yrs -
So That is Satan’s way: but that is not to be our way –
D)
So Satan’s plan his strategy is to try and get us to doubt God’s word and then
act independently of God’s word
1)
Satisfy the Lust of the flesh / Eyes / Pride of life – Back
to Eph.6
2nd Consider our Source of Power: v.10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might
a)
Now Listen Paul isn’t assuming the role of an Army
Drill Sergeant here –Not Suck it up solider be a man – Don’t be a Wimp
B)
My Brother was 13 – decided play Pop Warner football – I decided I was going to
help him get ready – Chase down street –
C)
Yelling at this poor kid – Come on you can run
faster than that – come on you can do better / Come on you wimp
1)
That is not what Paul is doing here – He is not saying – be strong get pumped get Psyched –
D)
Satan would love for you to think that is what Paul is saying here – go away
tonight only having read ½ of the verse – Be Strong!
1)
That is what a lot of Christians do – maybe they have fallen & they decided
I am going to do better this time – make a Stand
D)That
is a Sure fire way to get totally Wiped out – Why? Simple the Devil is Stronger than You – Way Stronger – You don’t stand a Chance
1)
If you don’t realize that, he will be Victorious & you will be the
Victim
Paul
is saying the complete opposite thing here – read rest of the verse Be strong in the Lord –
What does that mean ?
A)First it means that in order to be strong in
the Lord You have to be
in the Lord – And the Lord in You –
B) Before a Person comes to
Christ – Against the Devil – You are on your own – Like 5 yr olds going
up against Navy Seals –
1) But once a person receives Christ the Tables are
Turned –
C) Jason Phil & I / 3
on 3 – Tourney – against College Players / Phil football Jason golf / Me
Bad Hip –
1) Now if it is me Shaq / Kobe – Different Story – On
the Team
Jesus wants you to be on His team !!!!!
D) Christ in You – You in Christ – Covered – Strong
in the Lord – Starts w/ Knowing I am in Him & He is in Me – Part of me – On
His team
But it
also means operating in His Strength & Not my own
A)David
operated in this mode when faced Goliath! "You
come w/ sword and spear - I come in the name of the Lord"
B) Christians we are not fighting FOR VICTORY – but
FROM VICTORY
C)
Now Being strong in the Lord begins with being poor in spirit!
1)
Recognize our utter dependency upon Him for everything
D)
Realizing that w/ out Him we can do nothing Jn 15
1.) Realizing
His grace is sufficient - power is made perfect in our weakness! When weak - He is strong!
Realizing
- that I have no power in my flesh over the enemy - but He has overcome
A)
Col 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers,
He made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
B) He is
in Me - He is greater than he in the world!
1.) Phil
4:13 - I can
do all thing through Christ....
2
Cor.10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
C)
Mighty IN GOD -
So a key to being victorious in the
Battle is realizing that our Power over the enemy comes from the Lord !!! /
equipped w/ Armor ………
Finally –
What are we called to? – v.11& 13 - 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the Wiles of the devil
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand. V.14 Stand there…
A) I think it is obvious that the
GOAL of the Lord for us as it relates
to the Battle is to STAND – no wavering – not up & Down / Standing
B) To stand firm when used in a military
sense, had the idea of holding a critical position while under attack.
1) Feet dug in
not giving up any ground – { Defending the line
C) But when we are successful thru God’s
Power in Standing firm the Devil is defeated & flees- Frustrated
James 4:7 Submit to God resist the Devil and he will
flee from You
D) Key is in first phrase – Submit to
God – Yield surrender / results in Power – Satan is defeated – Flees
I think that this whole first Study
could be summed up by what Pastor Chuck calls the 3 R’S of Spiritual Warfare
A) 1st
Recognize – Battle & the Enemy
2nd – Rejoice – that the
Lord is w/ you – won the War
3rd Resist
- Devil will flee